Chicago truly is a doughnut town! The Windy City serves up some of the best raised, cake, and frosted rings in the country. The explosion of local, creative doughnut shops in the last few years is great news for the families of Chicago. After all, good shops have the winning recipe for a family outing: They’re open early, offer all kinds of sprinkle-covered sweets, and supply quality coffee for bleary-eyed parents, babysitters, and nannies.
These are the perfect places to get a sweet start to your weekend, end a crazy day of child-wrangling, or treat yourself any time in between. There are no rules when it comes to doughnuts. Check out our list of 10 great doughnut shops to try with your family ASAP.
Stan’s Donuts & Coffee
Address: 1560 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL 60622 (Wicker Park) | Click here for more locations.
Hours: Sunday – Wednesday, 6:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. | Thursday, 6:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. | Friday & Saturday, 6:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Phone: 773-360-7386
This 50-year-old Los Angeles-based bakery came to Chicago a few years ago and quickly became a local favorite. Stan’s is the place for variety. Try to choose just one doughnut! The lemon pistachio old-fashioned, huge cinnamon-sugar pretzel, and the blueberry fritter are fan favorites. Don’t miss their “pockets” — doughnuts stuffed with peanut butter, Biscoff, Nutella, bananas, and more. They also have gluten-free doughnuts, vegan doughnuts, La Colombe coffee, and milkshakes with a tiny doughnut slipped over the straw.
Want to work for your dough? Stan is throwing a 5K and Kid’s Dash in August, complete with doughnuts along the course and at the finish line. But running isn’t really necessary, because Stan’s now has a handful of locations all over the city and one in Oak Brook.
Beaver’s Coffee and Donuts
Address: 131 N. Clinton St., Chicago IL 60661
Hours: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. | Saturday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Phone: 773-392-1300
Mini doughnuts might even be more fun than the full-sized version. Beaver’s serves their minis at their shop in the French Market and on their roving truck. Choose from nostalgic toppings like powdered sugar and cinnamon, or go all in with a long list of fun options, including cannoli cream and crumbled pastry shells, or honey, peanut butter, and banana slices.
Not sweet enough for you? Their doughnut truffles are filled with peanut butter and other sauces and coated with chocolate, and their milkshakes blend ice cream with toppings, including pieces of doughnuts. Find their truck by following their Twitter updates. If you’re lucky, their mascot Bobby the Beaver might be entertaining the crowd.
Glazed and Infused
Address: 939 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60614 (Lincoln Park) | Click here for more locations.
Hours: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. | Saturday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Sunday, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Phone: 312-226-5556
Glazed and Infused has an ever-changing menu. One-of-a-kind flavors include the maple bacon long john, matcha cream, and red velvet doughnuts. They’re ready to party, too! Glazed and Infused makes Happy Birthday doughnuts, blue and pink cream-filled gender reveal doughnuts, and jaw-dropping 16-inch jumbo raised doughnuts.
Got a doughnut-loving kid? The Lincoln Park location hosts easy doughnut-decorating birthday parties. Kids can load up doughnuts with chocolate curls, sprinkles, and cereals to celebrate. Glazed and Infused has other locations in the West Loop, River North, Streeterville, and the Loop, and they also deliver if you just can’t make it out the door.
Dinkel’s Bakery
Address: 3329 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60657
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. | Sunday, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. (Cafe hours)
Phone: 773-281-7300
This family bakery has been a Chicago fixture since 1922. Dinkel’s serves cakes, pastries, and stollen — a German cake-like fruit bread — along with an impressive array of doughnuts. Choose from classics like bismarks, cinnamon-sugar cake donuts, Boston creams, and sour-cream old-fashioneds. In February, the line stretches outside for paczki — the filled, fried doughnuts traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday.
Should you want to fill those little stomachs with something savory, Dinkel’s has a menu of breakfast and lunch sandwiches.
Firecakes Donuts
Locations:
- Clark Street: 2453 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614 | P: 773-666-5277
- Hubbard Street: 68 W. Hubbard St., Chicago, IL 60654 | P: 312-329-6500
Hours:
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Hubbard Street: Sunday – Wednesday, 7 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. | Thursday – Saturday, 7 a.m. – midnight (or until sold out)
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Clark Street: Sunday – Thursday, 7 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. | Friday & Saturday, 7 a.m. – midnight (or until sold out)
The perfect doughnut doesn’t necessarily have to be piping hot — try Firecakes’ ice cream doughnut sandwich to be convinced. The shop serves up seasonal specialities and year-round favorites, including the coconut cream, butterscotch praline, and triple Valrhona chocolate cake. Their smaller doughnuts — like the peanut butter cup — are handy for kids. Or go to the other extreme and celebrate with their towering, sprinkle-crusted birthday cake doughnut.
BomboBar
Address: 832 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60607
Hours: Open daily, 8 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Phone: 312-492-7775
Sometimes kids just can’t be trusted inside an actual restaurant. BomboBar comes in handy for those times. It’s a walk-up window outside Italian eatery Bar Siena on Randolph Street. Their specialty is bomboloni — Italian doughnuts without holes. Try flavors like Nutella cream, mixed berry, or s’mores. Some come with mini squeeze bottles so you can inject your own filling!
BomboBar’s gelato sandwich boasts layers of vanilla gelato with a hot bombo, salted caramel dip, and fruity pebbles. The goodies don’t stop there. They also have breakfast sandwiches, housemade gelato, and Italian ice — served virgin for kids or in flavors like lemon rosé and strawberry kiwi tequila for grownups.
Somethin’ Sweet Donuts
Address: 5112 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60639
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. | Friday – Sunday, 7:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Phone: 773-237-7588
Somethin’ Sweet is a good, old-fashioned doughnut shop. Kids’ eyes will widen when they see the display cases full of colorful, sprinkle-topped cake and raised doughnuts. You can choose from tons of classic flavors, like devil’s food cake and French crullers, or opt for doughnut holes instead. They also serve ice cream and savory sandwiches. You will love the old-school prices, too — a dozen doughnuts costs less than $10.
Do-Rite Donuts
Address: 233 E. Erie St., Chicago, IL 60611 | Click here for more locations.
Hours: Monday – Friday, 6:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. | Saturday & Sunday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Phone: 312-344-1374
Do-Rite’s doughnuts were worth talking about even before they started serving them with fried chicken and fried eggs, but now they’re a must-try. At their Streeterville and West Loop shops, you can order the Sweet Heat — fried chicken on a glazed doughnut with spicy maple aioli. Or get the bacon and egg doughnut sandwich for a taste of savory and sweet. (There are plenty of sandwiches on buns, too.)
If you’re a doughnut purist, choose from flavors like the pistachio and Meyer lemon cake doughnut or the blueberry crumb doughnut. They serve gluten-free and vegan options, too, as well as Dark Matter Coffee. Do-Rite Donuts also has a doughnut-only location in the Loop.
Delightful Pastries
Locations:
- Chicago French Market: 131 N. Clinton St., Chicago, IL 60661 | P: 312-234-9644
- Jefferson Park: 5927 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IL 60630 | P: 773-545-7215
Hours:
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Chicago French Market: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
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Jefferson Park: Monday – Friday, 6 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Saturday, 6 a.m. – 3 p.m.
This European-style bakery is known for its paczki. While you can only get the Polish doughnuts on Fat Tuesday at other shops, at Delightful Pastries you can pick up paczki stuffed with fillings like plum, raspberry, and custard all year long. They also serve up ring-style glazed and chocolate doughnuts, along with breads, cakes, croissants, and more. Try something savory at their Chicago French Market location, such as one of their sandwiches, soups, or pierogi.
Doughnut Vault
Locations:
- Canal Street: 111 N. Canal St., Chicago, IL 60606
- Franklin Street: 401 N. Franklin St. Chicago, IL 60654
Hours:
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Canal Street: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
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Franklin Street: Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. until sold out | Saturday & Sunday, 9:30 a.m. until sold out
Phone: 312-285-2830
For once, having early-rising kids gives you an advantage. Doughnut Vault serves small batches of a limited number of flavors until they run out — usually around midday — so come early to get a taste. (Or put your tween in charge of checking Twitter before heading out. They post their specials for the day — flavors like wedding cake and salted caramel old-fashioned — and they post when they’re sold out, too.) The tiny bakery churns out top-notch gingerbread, buttermilk old-fashioned, and glazed doughnuts in vanilla, chestnut, or chocolate every day.
Did we list all your favorite doughnut shops around Chicago? Let us know in the comments below!
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